Mount St.
Mary's Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke
Association's "Get With The Guidelines-Stroke" Silver Plus Performance Achievement
Award. The award recognizes Mount St. Mary's commitment and success in
implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients
receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and
recommendations. Mount St. Mary's has been designated as a stroke center by the
New York State Department of Health.

"Time is
extremely important in dealing with a stroke, and the stroke team at Mount St.
Mary's has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and providing
effective treatment to stroke patients admitted to our emergency department
quickly," said Dr. Gregory D. Sambuchi, head of MSM's division of neurology.
"We are honored to be recognized for our efforts in bettering the care and
treatment of stroke patients by the American Heart and American Stroke
associations."

According to
the AHA/ASA, to receive the Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award, Mount
St. Mary's consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the "Get With The
Guidelines-Stroke" program for 12 consecutive months with 85 percent or higher
adherence to all performance achievement indicators and 75 percent or higher
compliance with five of nine stroke quality measures to improve the quality of
patient care and outcomes. These include aggressive use of medications such as
tPA, antithrombotics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis,
cholesterol-reducing drugs and smoking cessation.